The Essentia Blog

It turns out the health check symbol is not what it’s cracked up to be.

Health Check is Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation’s food information program designed to help people make “healthy food choices”. So they place this “health check” on products. Dietitians from the foundation evaluate products based on Canada’s Food Guide. The Health Check™ symbol is supposed to have some assurance that each grocery or restaurant menu item contributes to an overall healthy diet.

CBC Marketplace had an episode which pulled the veil from the Check. Companies pay the Heart and Stroke Foundation to have it on their products. The criteria needed to qualify products for the Health Check is very easy to attain. The standards are substantially lower compared to similar programs.

If we were in the States the Heart and Stroke Foundation would have a suit on their hands

It doesn’t say much about The Heart and Stroke Foundation either. If deceiving the public is not above them, can they be trusted at all? This is a big red flag to many and their operations should be looked into.